Anti-Bullying Week is an important time to remember that bullying is not isolated to childhood, and it does have a long lasting impact on the victim’s mental health for a long time.
In fact, bullying can leave deep emotional wounds that last for years, sometimes for decades.
These wounds often play a major role when it comes to substance abuse, relapse and long term addiction recovery.
For many people entering a medical detox and addiction rehab, there are often root causes behind their addiction.
Often, addiction triggers and causes begin much earlier in life, often with some form of rejection, humiliation, fear, shame or repeated emotional trauma caused by the likes of bullying.
Whether the bullying happened at school, at home, online, in relationships, or in the workplace, the psychological impact of bullying can remain long after the bullying stops.
The Anti-Bullying Alliance shines a light on the impact of bullying during Anti-Bullying Week, which takes place every November and highlights the serious long term emotional and mental impact that bullying can cause.
At Rehab 4 Addiction, we understand that trauma and addiction are often closely connected.
Likewise, we understand that addiction recovery is not just simply about stopping substance abuse. In fact, true and long term recovery means understanding the root causes of addiction and helping people heal from them.
Unfortunately, there is a strong link between bullying and addiction issues. This is because being bullied creates chronic stress for the victim.
When someone feels stressed, unsafe, targeted, or powerless for a prolonged period of time, the nervous system remains stuck in survival mode and cannot relax [1].
This often leads to a number of different mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, social withdrawal, sleep issues, panic attacks and panic syndrome as well as general emotional dysregulation. In some serious cases, it can also result in PTSD [1].
Due to these issues caused by bullying, many people then turn to alcohol or drugs to cope. Whilst alcohol might initially feel like it reduces anxiety and other mental health issues, they actually tend to make them worse.
Likewise, drugs and other prescription medication may seem to numb painful memories. However, what starts as emotional escape can quickly become an addiction issue.
In fact, research and treatment providers consistently highlight a strong connection between bullying and substance abuse, with victims of bullying being more likely to misuse substances such as drugs and alcohol later in life.
This is particularly common when bullying happens during childhood or adolescence, when your brain, your emotional development and your sense of self-worth and self-esteem are still forming within the brain.
Unfortunately, still to this day, many people minimise bullying by failing to see bullying as a form of trauma. There is a general misconception that people who have been bullied should just move on, not look back and not see it as a traumatic experience.
However, it is important to understand that repeated bullying can be traumatic [2].
Trauma is not only caused by major single events. Trauma can also develop from repeated emotional harm, humiliation, exclusion, intimidation or fear over a prolonged period of time.
This is especially true when the person feels trapped and unable to escape, which is commonly felt by people who have been bullied.
There are lots of different ways that you can be bullied, some of which are listed below for you.
The impact of these different forms of bullying and abuse are often cumulative. This means that someone who experienced bullying at school might later face workplace bullying or abusive relationships, reinforcing the same feelings of shame and helplessness.
This repeated trauma can increase vulnerability to addiction issues and will likely make your recovery harder, too [2].
It is often the case that many adults’ entering rehab treatment do not initially recognise how strongly childhood issues and childhood bullying has shaped their life and their addiction.
People who feel this way might be used to the fact that they never feel good enough, feel anxious in social situations and need addictive substances in order to feel confident socially.
Likewise, they might find it difficult to trust other people and often people-please without knowing why. Whilst they might not realise it, these patterns often trace back to early experiences of bullying.
In fact, childhood bullying can damage your identity. When a young person repeatedly hears that they are worthless, strange, different, weak, or unwanted in any way, these thought patterns can become deeply rooted internal beliefs.
Later in life, addiction often becomes a way of coping with those beliefs and negative thought patterns. Whilst a medical detox might remove the addictive substance from the body, the trauma that bullying has caused will need therapy in order to fully heal.
It is a common misconception that bullying only happens at school. However, this is simply not the case. In fact, an increasingly number of adults experience bullying in professional settings such as the workplace.
Workplace bullying can be particularly damaging as it threatens your income, your sense of security, your confidence and your overall daily wellbeing. As we grow up, life becomes more stressful and workplace bullying only ever adds to this stress.
Workplace bullying might include public humiliation at work, intimidation by management or HR, persistent criticism, undermining behaviour or discrimination. People experiencing workplace bullying often begin drinking more in private at first, in an attempt to cope.
What starts as a few drinks to unwind and destress can become regular alcohol abuse and binge drinking. Because the individual is still functioning professionally, the addiction may remain hidden for years as they continue to drink in private.
This is one reason why private and professional detox and rehab are so important. Many professionals delay gaining access to professional treatment because they fear judgement from others.
However, early intervention can prevent addiction from becoming more severe.
Whilst there are many positive aspects to the internet and social media, cyberbullying has caused huge issues and has changed how trauma works.
Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying can follow someone everywhere. This includes into their home, late at night and across every device. Due to this, there is often no safe space to switch off and relax away from the bullies.
Cyberbullying might involve harassment on social media, messages from fake accounts, public humiliation, revenge positing, threats, online sexual exploitation and reputational damage.
Despite the fact that it is online, it is still a form of bullying. This type of bullying creates intense psychological pressures and can lead to panic, depression, anxiety, fear, self-harm and low self-esteem. It has also been known to contribute towards substance abuse.
In fact, studies have now shown that cyberbullying can be just as harmful as in person bullying and can contribute to addiction in the same way.
Young adults in particular may abuse alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, or prescription drugs to manage this type of bullying, especially when they feel too ashamed to ask for help.
It is important to remember that addiction recovery is not just about abstinence. When trauma remains untreated, you are far more likely to release from recovery.
There are a number of triggers associated with trauma, including criticism from others, conflict in your relationships, rejection, certain social situations, feelings of embarrassment and loneliness.
These triggers can take you back to your trauma and set you back immensely when it comes to your addiction recovery. Whilst the individual might not consciously think about the trauma and bullying, their body will still respond as though the bullying or trauma is happening all over again.
This can create overwhelming anxiety and a strong craving for the addictive substance.
This is why trauma-informed therapy matters when it comes to addiction recovery. This type of treatment must address both the addiction and the emotional wounds caused by the likes of bullying and other traumatic experiences.
A trauma-informed treatment approach means that treatment does not simply aim to treat your addiction. Instead, it aims to look deeper into why you are addicted to certain substances in the first place.
Many people with addiction have spent years feeling blamed, judged or simply just misunderstood. A trauma-informed treatment plan creates a sense of safety, compassion, and emotional stability, so that you can start to heal psychologically.
There are a range of different therapy techniques, including cognitive behavioural therapy, group therapy, trauma informed therapy, one to one therapy and holistic therapy. Whilst your medical detox will stabilise your body, these therapy techniques will make you mentally stronger.
If someone you care about is in recovery from an addiction and has experienced bullying related trauma, then your support matters a lot.
Below are some helpful tips and tricks on how you might be able to help your loved one during this difficult and challenging time.
You should always try to listen properly without judgment. You should avoid minimising their experience and avoid increasing any shame that might exist. Allow them to speak openly about their experience and feel believed.
Recovery can be disrupted by a number of different triggers that might seem small from the outside but set someone in recovery back immensely. This could include things such as social rejection, criticism, or conflict that might trigger intense emotional responses connected to past bullying.
As discussed above, a detox alone is rarely ever enough. Encouraging therapy, structured rehab and long term support can make a huge difference.
As discussed above, trauma and addiction recovery is rarely linear. Some days you might feel strong, whereas others feel like setbacks. Consistent support matters more than progress.
As discussed above, bullying can leave lasting scars that impact the individual’s mental health for years to come. However, it does not have to define someone’s future.
Addiction recovery offers more than just sobriety. Instead, it offers the chance to rebuild your identity, your confidence, your boundaries and your sense of self-worth. For many people, rehab is the first place they feel truly heard, especially after experiencing something as traumatic as bullying.
Anti-Bullying Week reminds us that words, humiliation and emotional cruelty can have lifelong consequences. It also reminds us that with the right support and treatment, people are able to heal.
With the right detox, the right rehab and the right aftercare support, lasting addiction recovery is possible.
[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5487445/
[2] https://www.ptsduk.org/causes-of-ptsd-bullying/
Boris is our editor-in-chief at Rehab 4 Addiction. Boris is an advisor with more than 20 years in the field. His knowledge covers a broad of topics relating to addiction, rehab and recovery. Boris is an advisor and assists in the alcohol detox and rehab process. Boris has been featured on a variety of websites, including the Verywell Mind and Healthline. You can connect with Boris online at LinkedIn or X.com.
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